The Last Of A Kind Part Of A Family
by Caseyrook
Summary: Gibbs gets bad news from Stillwater and disappears before his team finds out. Meanwhile Tony, Abby, Ducky, McGee and Bishop work the case of a dead Admiral whose death at first looks straight forward, but looks can be deceiving. The death of Jackson Gibbs. My first NCIS FanFic and follows canon.
1. Gibbs Morning Bad News

**A/N: My first NCIS FanFic. No Slash, OOC, or pairings and follows canon to the best of my ability. I own nothing NCIS although I wish I did. Please review.**

Gibbs morning was off to a great start. It was in the high fifties, not cold and not hot either. Perfect for Gibbs. Gibbs was on his way to work right when the clock changed to read 6:00 AM so Gibbs wasn't running late, not that he could possibly run late at six in the morning when NCIS guidelines say you have to be at the office by eight.

Gibbs navigated his truck to the underpass where his favorite Diner sat, small and welcoming under the shade of an overpass. After parking Gibbs sat at the counter, Elaine the same waitress who worked from five in the morning until one in the afternoon smiled holding a pot of coffee, black, in her one hand a cup in the other.

"You're in a good mood." She observed setting the cup in front of Gibbs. Gibbs was a man of routine and she knew that Gibbs hardly ever missed a breakfast at the diner on a weekday. Not unless his job prevented it, which it often did. Knowing that, Elaine kept a pot of black coffee full awaiting Gibbs arrival just in case.

Gibbs took a drink from the cup, "Ah the weather."

"Always a man of few words. What will it be today?"

Gibbs smiled slightly, "Eggs over easy and toast."

"That's all?" The woman asked.

Gibbs nodded. "That's all."

After eating his breakfast, taking a coffee to go and paying Elaine Gibbs was on the road again. He was only ten minutes from the Navy Yard when his phone rang.

Gibbs expected one of his team, or Vance or even the NCIS dispatcher reporting a body found, but instead the area code was that of Stillwater, Pennsylvania. Gibbs heart rate sped up a little as he answered.

The person on the other line dominated the conversation. Gibbs merely listened and saying "yes," "uh huh," and "yeah" when the other person required Gibbs to acknowledge that he was listening.

"Thank you." Gibbs finally said before hanging up. Gibbs stopped at a red light and made a very last minute decision to make the trip to Stillwater. So when the light turned green, Gibbs drove until he found a place to make a legal U-Turn and then drove to Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile…

Ellie Bishop sat on her desk Indian Style with her laptop balanced on her knees. She was the first team member at the office this morning, which she felt was odd because Gibbs desk showed no sign that he had been in yet.

After fifteen minutes of silence, Tim McGee came in with his NCIS backpack on his shoulder.

"Good morning, Probie." He said setting his backpack on the floor by his desk.

Ellie glanced at McGee and pulled the earphones from her ears. "Will you _ever _stop calling me that?" She asked sounding more curious than anything else.

McGee smiled. "Gibbs still gets called Probie now and then." He said matter of factly.

"Who still gets called Probie?" Asked Tony rushing into the squad room breathing at an above normal rate.

McGee looked at Tony. "Did you just get here?"

Tony sat at his desk. "Yes. Why, McCurious?"

Ellie joined in, "You didn't get off the elevator with McGee."

Tony opened his desk drawer and took out a half-finished report from two cases ago. "Took the stairs."

Before Ellie or McGee could reply, the phone on Gibbs desk rang. All three Special Agents stared at it.

"Has Boss been in yet?" Tony asked.

Bishop shook her head no and Tony took it upon himself as Senior Field Agent to answer his boss's phone.

"Special Agent Gibbs' desk." Tony said at his most professional. Tony listened and then said, "Okay" and hung up.

"Dead Admiral. Park Place Motel. Grab your gear."

Ellie looked at McGee. "Who does he think he is? Gibbs?"

McGee shook his head. "He gets this way when Gibbs is gone."

Ellie glanced at her boss's desk once more. "Has Gibbs ever missed a day of work?"

McGee followed Ellie's glance to Gibbs desk. "Well the Boss Man does have a small habit of disappearing without saying anything. Usually it's to Mexico…"

McGee and Ellie were called to the elevator by Tony who was impatiently holding the doors open.

The two Agents had their gear and were half way to the elevator when they were met by Director Vance. He had a stern look on his face as he asked, "Where's Gibbs?"

The three agents looked at each other. Tony was the only one to speak. "Your guess is as good as ours, Director."

On his way to Stillwater, Gibbs made the decision to not to tell his team the news. If they knew they wouldn't leave him alone and Gibbs just wanted to be left alone. He didn't want to hurt the team by pushing them away and he knew that he would, so he didn't answer when every member of the team, plus Vance called him. He knew they were on a case too when he ignored a call from the NCIS Dispatcher.

Gibbs driving cut the usual time to trek from Washington D.C. to Stillwater by 45 minutes so he arrived earlier than he thought. Once he was driving along the Main Street of his place of birth Gibbs turned into the parking lot of the Sherriff's office.

Inside the office he found Ed Gantry sitting at a desk behind a half wall.

The Sheriff's deputy took one look and stood up on the defensive. He never liked Leroy Jethro Gibbs and hated that he was a Federal Agent now.

"Leroy." The deputy said as neutrally as he could. He wanted to see what mood the Fed was in before anything unwanted happened.

Gibbs stopped walking and locked eyes with Ed. "Where's my father?" Gibbs said showing absolutely no emotion.

Ed put his hand on his side, casually. "Ambulance took him to Columbia County General Hospital."

Gibbs locked eyes with the Sheriff's deputy once again and then coolly turned and left the way he came in. Ed let out a sigh. That was way easier than he had expected.

Earlier In D.C…

The crime scene was a motel room, Ellie was secretly glad that they found a simple gunshot wound and an okay amount of blood considering. Either it's from watching too much horror movies or just her imagination running wild but the Probationary Agent had expected a bloodbath.

"You seem surprised." Said Ducky, coming from behind Ellie in the doorway.

Ellie stood aside giving the Medical Examiner space, "Oh it's not what I expected."

Tony came into the room with a camera draped around his neck. "And here I was expecting Psycho!"

Ducky shook his head. "If Gibbs were here he'd smack you, Anthony."

Tony smiled. "Keyword 'if'. Besides as I recall you've smacked me before."

McGee raised an eye brow at that but continued sketching the scene. Ellie looked at Tony. "I suppose you want me to interview the maid?'

Tony forced his expression into his authorative-in-charge look. "Spoken like a true Probie."

Ellie nodded once and left the room in pursuit of the older and crying maid.

After she left, Ducky pulled the liver probe from the body. "Time of death approximately five hours ago."

Tony bent down with his hands on his knees supporting his weight. "Still had his dress uniform on at four in the morning? I'd say that was odd."

Ducky looked at Tony. "Except?"

Tony met eyes with the Scotsman. "Except the motel manager said that he saw our Admiral here with a lady of the night. I'd say that he and she hadn't sealed the deal yet."

"Speaking from experience are we Tony?" Quipped McGee as he still sketched.

"Not nice, Tim." Tony said, taking a picture of Tim causing the flash to blind him.

**Please Review**


	2. Where In The World Is Leroy Gibbs?

Gibbs had expected the same 1930's style hospital that he had known from his childhood. Instead he found a building that was no more than five years old when he parked his truck in the hospital parking lot.

Once he walked in, Gibbs walked straight to a desk where an admitting nurse was typing at her computer. A wall of glass separated him from the nurse. Gibbs had to get her attention because she didn't seem to hear him come in.

"Excuse me; I need to go to the morgue."

The nurse looked at Gibbs like that was a strange statement, but pointed down a hallway toward the elevators.

"The morgue is in the basement."

Gibbs said nothing in reply and instead just walked to the elevator.

As the elevator lowered to the basement, Gibbs stomach dropped and Gibbs felt tears forming in his eyes. He shook it off though, he didn't want the coroner to see that he was about to cry.

When the doors opened Gibbs found a small hallway with chairs lining the wall. It was a waiting area Gibbs figured as he opened another door straight in front of him. There he found a set up almost identical to the one at NCIS. The ME however was a tall burly man who was no older than 45 years old. The ME looked up from his sink and turned to Gibbs.

"Can I help you sir?"

"My father was brought here this morning."

The ME looked at a clipboard hanging on a hook on the wall. "Jackson Gibbs?"

Gibbs nodded gently. The ME coughed and walked to ward the wall lined with body coolers. "If you give me a moment I can lay him on one of those tables."

Gibbs looked at the body table closest to him and then brought his attention back to the ME. "No this is fine."

The ME gave Gibbs a look similar to the one the nurse gave him, but pulled open the body cooler and brought the slab halfway out. "I'll give you some time alone." He said and walked away.

Gibbs watched the man leave the morgue and then looked down at the body lying on the coolers slab. This was the first time his attention was completely on his father. Gibbs tried to form words but couldn't. Instead he just stood there with tears rolling down his cheeks.

At the Navy Yard Bishop, Tony, and McGee stood in front of the plasma screen closes to Gibbs desk. The case that they thought would be a cinch turned out to be a head scratcher.

"So we have a dead Admiral shot once, in the forehead with a clean shot. No witnesses." Tony said.

McGee added. "He was last seen alive with a woman at 10 pm. No one saw the woman leave."

Bishop continued, "The motel room is covered in multiple finger prints any of which could belong to our shooter. The weapon wasn't found and we have absolutely no incriminating evidence because everything we found is circumstantial and we didn't recover a bullet that we can match to a weapon we don't have. Has this happened before?"

McGee shifted his weight. "Not really. Gibbs wouldn't allow it."

Tony clicked the clicker and a picture of the crime scene appeared. "Where is Gibbs?" Tony tapped the clicker on his chin. "Walking campfire!"

Bishop looked at McGee quizzically. McGee just rolled his eyes and started to follow Tony who was walking to the back elevator to take it to Autopsy.

When the three entered Autopsy they found Ducky looking at the X-Rays on the light board attached to one of the walls.

"What do you got, Ducky?" Tony asked walking faster than his fellow agents.

Ducky had his hand on chin and his full attention on the X-Rays. He was muttering something inaudible. Ten seconds of silence followed and finally Ducky spoke loud enough for all four to hear. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Yeah we have two boxes of evidence and none of it is incriminating. We we're hoping you could help us out with that." McGee said, walking around an autopsy table.

Ducky walked from the wall closer to the group. His accent sounded stronger than usual as it normally did when he was frustrated. "I was hoping that too. However our Admiral was in perfect health for a man of his age, and the trajectory of the bullet wound suggests the shooter was roughly five eight. The pooling of the blood also suggests that the body was moved forward. That would explain the missing bullet."

Bishop raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me, Ducky. Are you saying you think that the shooter moved the body forward and took the bullet?"

Tony looked down at Bishop and then at Ducky. "That bullet would have brain matter and blood on it."

Ducky shook his head. "It would be a gruesome sight."

"Got to hand it to the shooter, they were certainly dedicated." McGee said sounding slightly impressed.

Ducky shifted the clipboard in his hands. "Have any of you spoken to Jethro today?"

The agents looked at each other. McGee was the first to answer. "No we haven't. We're starting to get concerned."

"Join the club. Of all of Jethro's personality traits I find this particular one the most frustrating."

Bishop looked at everyone in wonder. "This has happened before?"

Tony looked at the probie. "It occurs about twice a year sometimes three depending on whether or not Jupiter is in retrograde."

Jackson's house was so quiet that Gibbs could only hear his footfall's on the floor. The house was the house he grew up in and he knew every inch of it the way he knew his own. Gibbs walked into the kitchen and surveyed it as if he were at a crime scene. One thing that stuck out to him was the cabinets. They were the same type of wood, Oak and the same color, stained dark brown that Gibbs knew from his childhood. Only the doors on the cabinets had different indentations and carvings. The edges were pointed and sharp whereas the ones from Gibbs childhood had rounded edges. Gibbs found himself wondering why it was that his dad had to replace the old doors and also how he was able to match the rest of the cabinets so well.

Matching wood color for color and wood was not very easy especially when you're trying to match old with new.

DiNozzo and McGee had run out of theories and possibilities and decided to go back to the Park Place Motel. Bishop had gone home because her husband wanted her to go out to eat with him and two of his clients.

The two agents staged the crime scene photos around the room where they found every piece of evidence. Also they had one of Abby's forensics dummies laying on the blood in the same way they found the Admirals body the first time around.

"Okay Tim let's look at this crime scene like it's the first time we've been here. If we missed something the first time we should re-go over everything"

Ducky went home at the same time that he always did unless work prevented it. His new house, the one he moved into after his dear Mother passed, was the way he left it. Yet as Ducky took off his coat he couldn't help but have the eerie feeling that he wasn't alone.

Stepping lightly and with caution, Ducky eased into his kitchen.

Quickly he turned on the light switch to his right and gasped, caught off guard.

"Jethro!"

Gibbs sat at Ducky's kitchen table with a file lying in front of him. Gibbs had his left elbow on the laced table cloth and his hand placed on his head, lining the span of his cheek.

Ducky cocked his head wondering if his friend realized that he was there or even that the light was on. While thirty seconds ticked by Ducky studied Gibbs and recognized an expression that he had seen on Gibbs only once before; the same expression Gibbs harbored after waking from a coma with no recognition of who Ducky was. A combination of fear and confusion.

When the time passed, Gibbs finally moved as though he moved his feet under the table. He lifted his head and took his hand off his cheek.

"My dad died, Duck." He said, forcing the words out.

Ducky tensed, and let out a sigh. "I'm so sorry, Jethro."

Gibbs nodded. "I knew it would happen. But I didn't think it would be this soon." By now Gibbs was choking up. Ducky went to his friend and put his hands on his shoulders for comfort. Gibbs put his own hand on Ducky's left hand. Ducky stayed silent, as he knew that is what Gibbs wanted.

After a few minutes Gibbs finally spoke again. "How did you take it so well? When you're mom died?"

Ducky took his hands off Gibbs shoulder and pulled out the chair next to Gibbs and sat down. "I don't think my mother's death can be fairly compared to your father's, Jethro."

Gibbs swallowed but then gave Ducky a look that said that he wanted an explanation. Gibbs was good at that, saying anything with no words and just a look.

Ducky added, "My mother's Alzheimer's was almost unbearable for me to even see. I shudder to think what it was like for _her_ in her last year on this Earth. When she died I found solace in the fact that she was free of that terrible disease again. You can find no such solace, Jethro."

Gibbs picked the file from in front of him and handed it to ducky who took it curiously. "It's the report from the County Coroner. The ME could use a fresh set of eyes."

Ducky opened the folder and gave it a glance, "This is the ME's copy."

Gibbs flashed a super quick smile. Ducky knew Gibbs was feeling better. The look on Gibbs face now was the look of deviousness. It was a quick look of deviousness but deviousness nonetheless.

**Please review.**


	3. Gibbs Tells The Team

In the morning, Ducky woke up to find Gibbs quietly fixing his kitchen sink. Ducky watched his friend quietly for a second. "You're up early." Ducky said admiring how quietly Gibbs was handling the tools.

"Uh huh." Gibbs said somewhat distractedly.

Ducky shook his head and went to the stove and studied the kettle. "Good lord, Jethro. You've made tea the proper way."

From underneath the sink, Gibbs smiled and climbed out and stood up straight.  
Ducky watched as Gibbs turned the cold water knob and the water came out quickly. Gibbs had fixed the poor water pressure.

Now Ducky looked at his sofa. Gibbs had cleared it of the sheets he slept on and Ducky saw that Gibbs had folded up the quilt he slept on and put it away in the linen closet. "I never did ask you how you got here last night."

Gibbs sat at the kitchen table. "You shouldn't leave your key under the statue of your cricket player, Duck. It's too obvious."

Ducky took the kettle and poured two cups of the properly made tea. He joined Gibbs at the table and handed him a cup. "Well very few people around here know what cricket is."

"Where did you get those tools?" Ducky asked, surveying the toolbox sitting on the tiled floor.

Gibbs looked down. "My truck." Gibbs looked at his watch. "I'm going to head home before I go to work."

Tony and McGee were eating fast food breakfast at their desks. They had gone from the Motel back to the Navy Yard and pulled an all-nighter. SECNAV had been breathing down Vance's neck to get the case solved and with the absence of Gibbs, Vance had been breathing down their necks to get the case solved.

"How we do have absolutely no useable evidence?" Tony said, reviewing the description of the Admirals company. "The description of the Admirals lady friend has gotten us nowhere either. We should be glad Gibbs is off the reservation because if he wasn't he'd be in a hell of a bad mood."

McGee looked at the clock on his computer. "Is Abby in yet?"

Abby _was _in. She walked into her dark lab and clapped the lights on. She took off her coat and placed it on a hook on the wall but in her peripheral vision she saw a figure sitting at her desk in the other room where her desk was.

"Gibbs?" She said. Gibbs stood up as the automatic doors beeped and Abby walked in. Abby turned the lights on and frowned. A feeling in her gut told her this wasn't a happy visit.

"Sorry Abby." Gibbs said breaking his own rule.

"For what?" Abby said lacking her usual happiness.

Gibbs took Abby into his arms and hugged her. "For disappearing. You called me 16 times." Abby knew something was wrong now and returned the hug. She didn't say anything just savoring the moment. She had hugged Gibbs many times, but this was one of the only times that he hugged _her._

In her ear, Gibbs whispered, "My father passed away." To this Abby broke out and tears and Gibbs hugged her harder.

"Oh Gibbs I'm so sorry."

They stayed like that a little longer, but their hug was stopped when Tony and McGee appeared in the lab. At the sight of the hug they too knew something was wrong.

Gibbs let go and walked into the lab. He stood in front of his agents, it was clear to the both of them that he had tears in his eyes.

"Boss?" They said in unison.

Gibbs looked at them both. "My father died." He said and then walked away as McGee, Tony and Abby watched them in silent bewilderment. Abby was crying too, and she walked quickly and wrapped one of her arms around Tony and the other around McGee.

Bishop came into the office at the same time she always came in. She stopped for a pace as she realized that Tony and McGee were missing, yet Gibbs was at his desk.

He wasn't doing anything in particular, just sitting there as if in thought. Bishop felt it best to leave him alone and dropped her backpack by her desk and deposited her SIG in her desk drawer as she was taught to do by Gibbs on her first official day of being an NCIS Probie.

She was about to sit in her chair when she heard her name. "You go home last night, Bishop?"

Bishop changed her mind about sitting in her chair and walked in front of Gibbs desk. "Uh yes. Tony said it was okay because I had dinner plans with um Jake."

Gibbs said nothing, just picked up a pile of folders on his desk. "Dead Admiral?"

Bishop pointed at the folder, "Oh that? We were called to the Park Place Motel…" Bishop continued on but Gibbs cut her off.

"Just the facts, Bishop." Gibbs said flatly. In other day he may have let Bishop finish her longwinded story but today he had no patience.

Bishop stuttered a few syllables but was able to talk normally. "The admiral was seen with a woman at ten at night, there were no witnesses and no one called 911 reporting gunshots. That's not that strange because the motel only had one other room occupied and its occupant was at the movies at the time that Ducky says the admiral was shot. A simple gut shot to the head. The bullet is missing…" Bishop continued but Gibbs interrupted her again.

"Did you say _missing?_ Gibbs asked coldly.

Bishop's eyes widened. "Um yes. Ducky said the body was moved forward. He thinks that uh the killer took the bullet. Abby and Ducky agree that the gun used was low caliber because there is no evidence that the bullet dug into the mattress."

At that moment, Tony and McGee appeared in the squad room. They studied Gibbs and saw that he changed from sad to angry. "DiNozzo, how in the hell do you have a crime scene with no evidence."

Tony looked back at McGee but hurried up to stand in front of Gibbs desk. "Everything in that hotel room had multiple sets of finger prints and only three partials that we found gave Abby a name. All three of the prints owners have alibis. All we know about the shooter is that they are approximately five eight…" Before Tony could finish Vance appeared out of nowhere.

"Special Agent Gibbs my office. Now." Vance walked away toward the stairs. Gibbs stood up shaking his head. He followed in Vance's direction without saying anything.

Once the team was sure he was out of ear shot they spoke. Bishop went first. "Is something wrong?"

The boys nodded at the same time. "Boss's father died. That's why he was missing yesterday."

Vance was sitting at his desk by the time Gibbs caught up with him. Their relationship had been better than it had been in the past and Gibbs knew that as he gently shut the door that wasn't the case anymore.

"Want to tell me where the hell you were yesterday?" Vance asked, icily.

Gibbs stood squarely in front of Leon's desk. He shifted his weight and kept his arms at his sides. "Stillwater." Gibbs answered.

Vance should have expected one word answers. "Want to tell me why?"

Gibbs looked Leon directly in the eyes as if he was trying to see his reflection in Vance's pupils. "My father died."

Vance shifted his weight and changed his body language from stern boss to concerned friend.

"You were told yesterday morning?'

Gibbs said nothing. Only nodded.

"I'm sorry, Gibbs. Have you made funeral arrangements?"

Gibbs watched Leon's posture. "Yeah, small funeral in Stillwater, Thursday. He'll be buried by my mom."

Vance switched back o professional boss. "I'm sure you're away of your teams current case?"

Gibbs looked around the room without moving his body. "Dead Admiral with a lack of substantial evidence."

Vance put his hands together at his stomach. "Uh huh and because of that SECNAV is breathing down my neck wanting answers. She's also concerned that one of NCIS's best agents isn't working the case."

Gibbs gave no reply. Vance continued. "You're restricted to the Navy Yard. DiNozzo has point."

Gibbs glared at Leon. Leon held his ground. "You went AWOL on a high priority case. Recent events have certain parties questioning our relationship. I'm sorry your father passed but I can't let you do whatever you want without saying anything. Also I'm concerned about state of mind right now."

Again Gibbs gave no reply. He averted his glare and walked out of the office. This time he slammed the door.


	4. There Has To Be Evidence

Normally it would piss Gibbs off to be restricted to the Navy Yard but with the case and his father's death, Gibbs understood his boss's decision. After all Leon did witness Gibbs breaking the two way mirror with a suspect in interrogation by lifting the man up and shoving him against the wall. And since the victim was an admiral, a lot of top military officials would be visiting the NCIS building wanting answers.

The team were all in the bullpen. Ellie was running through a list of women arrested for prostitution to see if any of them had a history of working at the Park Place Motel. After she was done with that she was planning on then running the debit and credit charges against those who hand worked the Motel to see if anyone of them were there when the Admiral died. Tony was going over every employee and guest at the motel to cross check them with the Admiral to determine whether or not they had contact. McGee and Gibbs were both going over the Admirals records and previous contacts in search of a reason for the Admiral to be killed. Two hours passed of this and it was clear that Tim and Tony's all-nighter was catching up with them. Gibbs called the three to his desk, and then pointed at Tony to speak first.

DiNozzo looked at his boss, at his co-workers and then at his desk. "Uh I went over every employee and the rest of the guests. None of them have a reason to kill the Admiral and have never been in contact with them."

Next Gibbs motioned to Bishop. Bishop handed Gibbs a folder, Gibbs just took it and dropped it on his desk. "Only one woman previously arrested for prostitution at the Motel was in the area yesterday. But she has an alibi for the Admirals murder." Gibbs looked at Bishop wanting to hear the alibi so Bishop added, "She was arrested again at 8 pm."

Gibbs didn't call on McGee because he knew that McGee didn't have anything either. Gibbs pointed at Tim and Tony. "You two. Go home. Get some sleep."

McGee went to his desk to grab his stuff, but Tony lingered in front of his boss's desk. Earlier the Director had made a point that Tony was the lead, in case that fact slipped Gibbs mind. "Uh Boss, Vance mentioned that I am in charge…" Tony said this trying to sound respectful to Gibbs but also tiptoeing around Gibbs personal feelings.

Gibbs reaction was different than what Tony expected, "I know. If anything comes up I will call you." Tony stood a minute longer and then left with his backpack hanging from one shoulder.

Now it was only Bishop and Gibbs. Bishop had gone back to her desk right before the boys left and once they were gone, Bishop got back up from her desk and approached Gibbs desk from his right. "Uh, Gibbs I am not sure what you want me to do now."

Her boss gave her a strange faraway look for a few seconds and then he stood up and motioned for Bishop to follow him. They ended up at the evidence garage where Abby had busied herself with building a live model of the Motel room where the murder happened. Everything before them had been taken from the motel room, even the carpeting.

Abby had the same dummy that the boys used last night sitting on the bed in the exact way the body was found. Gibbs took the dummy off the bed and handed it to Abby and then sat on the bed. He looked at the floor at the edge and then surveyed the carpet on the sides of the beds. He had a look on his face that Abby recognized but not Bishop. It was a look of pure puzzlement.

"Abby, footprints?"

Abby sighed. "The carpeting is really, really dirty. I found particles from multiple different sources including, dirt, dust and even sand which is odd because there is no place with sand at the Motel. Now I found tiny ridges in the carpet but there is no way to tie anything I found in the carpeting to our killer. The killer is a ghost."

Gibbs broke eye contact and then stood up from the bed. He looked around at every inch of the room as he paced around the bed which sat in the center of the room. He was at a slight disadvantage because he was never present at the crime scene. Bishop and Abby watched him bemused from outside the two by four frames.

Six minutes passed before Gibbs came out of his focused state of mind and talked again. "It makes no sense. There cannot NOT be evidence. There HAS to be evidence." Gibbs was speaking louder, not yelling but not talking at a normal tone either. The two woman just looked at him. Five seconds later, Gibbs gently pushed Bishop onto the bed. He stood in front of her holding his arm out like he was holding a pistol. He lowered his arm so it was angled to mimic a five foot eight tall shooter. Bishop studied her boss's body language and found herself more intrigued than nervous. She even smiled a little but very quickly stopped.

Gibbs narrated as he acted out the murder the way he saw it in his head. "The killer shot the Admiral in the forehead, square between the eyes." Bishop followed Gibbs lead and laid on the bed mimicking the way the Admiral had died. Gibbs continued, "It would have been a quick death. The shooter would have had to take the bullet behind the admiral almost immediately or we'd see where the bullet was on the bedding."

Gibbs turned to Abby. "Abs, let me see the crime scene photos. Specifically this bed." Abby pulled out her Microsoft Surface and opened up the photos app and swiped until she found the one with the best view of the bed. Abby held the tablet in front of her as Gibbs studied it carefully. Bishop stayed where she was but watched Abby and Gibbs. Gibbs looked at the bedding Bishop was laying on. Abby had it exactly like the picture.

At an impasse Gibbs left without a word. Abby yelled at him, "No Caf Pow!?" She didn't get an answer, Bishop left the bed and walked next to Abby.

"He can't leave the Navy Yard."


	5. Jethro We Need To Talk

A/N Sorry for the last chapter. I wrote it with paragraph breaks but I had to copy and paste it to upload it and I didn't catch the mistake when I uploaded the story.

After leaving the evidence garage, Gibbs was in the elevator by himself. Frustrated and irritated he flipped the emergency stop switch, stopping the elevator somewhere between the first and second floor. He could feel tears in his eyes again and he put his arm in front of him and leaned against the closed door of the elevator. He rubbed his eyes trying to make himself focus on the case.

His dad was dead from natural causes. There was no changing that. And with that known Gibbs had to focus on who the foxtrot killed the Admiral. Gibbs stood up straight again taking his hand off the door. He took a deep breath, and exhaled loudly. He closed his eyes in attempt to take everything he knew about the murder and make it make sense so he could run through all the possibilities to find evidence that would link them to the killer.

He first focused on the Admirals body, the trajectory of the bullet in the brain cavity. Then he focused on the bullet. Why would someone take the bullet? Gibbs shook his head at the words in his mind as they brought up a memory.

Leroy Gibbs was ten years old. He had walked to the General Store from school, and found it empty. Neither LJ nor his dad were behind the counter or in aisles. Leroy dropped his frayed and scratched school books on the table in front of the counter and seized the opportunity of the lifetime. He looked all around the room to see that the coast was clear and then slowly made his way behind the counter.

Stepping on a box full of Marvel Comics, the ten year old boy used both his hands and lifted the family's Winchester off its perch on the wall. He smiled a little, feeling a small victory. Leroy put his left hand on the barrel and his right hand in the rim behind the trigger. He brought the butt to his shoulder and looked down the length of the barrel through the sight. He smiled again imagining a deer.

He was taking aim when he felt a hard thump on his back below his neck and in between his shoulders. It hurt enough right away for Leroy to know that it would bruise.

Leroy quickly spun around and before Leroy knew what was happening, the Winchester was ripped from his hands by his dad. "What in the hell are you doing son? You're going to kill someone!" Leroy stood with his feet frozen to the floor. He had never seen his father so angry before and he studied his father's face for a split second thinking his dad was only yelling to scare him and wasn't really mad. But his dad's eyes and tone told Leroy that his dad was really angry. The boy looked at his father, "I only wanted to hold it! Why can't I shoot it? Mom doesn't care if I shoot a BB gun!"

Gibbs stopped replaying his memory and threw a punch at the hard cold wall to Gibbs left. It was a hard punch and a shiver of pain shot through his arm. Gibbs brought his right arm to his chest and held it in his left hand, he exhaled again and cursed himself for throwing the punch. Finally he forcibly switched the emergency stop switch and the elevator continued on its way back up. Gibbs got off the elevator and was holding his right hand up with his left.

He was annoyed when he saw Ducky sitting at his desk in the squad room. Ducky was the only person in the world that had an ability to read Gibbs and Ducky had stitched him up and set enough of Gibbs broken fingers to know what Gibbs had just done. He watched his friend from afar and saw that Ducky hadn't seen him yet, so he quickly took the less used path around the bullpen on the outside.

His cover was blown though when another agent called his name, "Agent Gibbs! I need a Senior Agent to sign this threat assessment…"

Gibbs stared at the thirty something agent who blocked his path. The agent was oblivious to Gibbs current status and carried on in her normal happy way. She trailed off though when she realized that Gibbs was distracted and wanted her to move. "It's not important now." She said and walked away.

Gibbs continued on his way but Ducky had heard Gibbs name called and was waiting for him at the entrance to the bullpen. "Jethro we need to talk."

"Uh huh." Gibbs walked quickly passed his friend and to his desk. With his left hand Gibbs opened the drawer with his badge and gun and pulled them out. Ducky was neither blind nor oblivious and saw that Gibbs was purposely using his left as he holstered his weapon and clipped on his badge.

As Gibbs passed him again, Ducky grabbed his right wrist as if to get his attention, but in reality Ducky was testing Gibbs. Gibbs looked down at his friends hand and pulled his hand away. He disguised every inch of body to hide the pain resonating throughout his nervous system. Ducky though knew his friend and followed his friend persistently.

"Jethro. Have you made any plans for your father's funeral?" Gibbs was walking to the other elevator now and said nothing. He knew that Ducky was on to him about his hand and felt a slight pang of guilt for doing this to Ducky of all people, but Gibbs just wanted to get over his dad now and solve the case. Plus he wanted left alone.

The elevator didn't open when Gibbs pushed the call button and Gibbs muttered impatiently. The ME stood next to his friend looking up to study him. It was clear that Jethro was flustered and distracted and Ducky decided to leave him be at the moment. Finally the car came and the two men stood to the side letting three people off. When it was clear they went in the elevator, Gibbs considered making Ducky stay out but he decided against it.

The car moaned and creaked but started to move. It was Ducky who flipped the emergency switch. "What exactly did you do your right hand?" Ducky asked, sternly. It was the same tone Ducky used when threatening to not use a local anesthetic next time Gibbs pulled his stitches and needed sewn up again. Gibbs looked at his hand and looked at the wall to his left. He forced a smile, creating a red herring for Ducky, "Better the elevator than Vance."

Ducky rolled his eyes. "You're using this case to ignore your father's death." Gibbs looked up at the ceiling and rolled his eyes too.

He shouted, "No, Ducky, I'm doing my job!" Ducky went silent and looked at his feet. "Why are we doing this? We were fine the last time we saw each other."

"I'm sorry, Jethro. I'm pushing you and I shouldn't."

"Apology accepted." Gibbs pointed at the stop switch and Ducky reached over and flipped it, sending the elevator on its way. Two seconds went by and Gibbs stopped the elevator again.

Ducky looked at his friend quizzically. Gibbs spoke motioning with his hands, "You shoot someone, but you move the body forward to take the bullet. Why?"

Ducky put his hands in his pockets, "Well some killers have been known to freeze when they realize what they've done and in a state of panic they go around collect as much evidence as they can for fear of being caught. However given the almost perfect gunshot wound and the lack of evidence I'd say our killer wanted a souvenir."

Gibbs cocked his head. He should have thought of that.


	6. Finally A Break In The Case

After leaving the elevator and then the building, Ducky followed Gibbs to his truck in the parking lot. Gibbs took his keys from his pocket, opened the door and got in. Ducky couldn't help but notice that Gibbs hadn't unlocked his door because it wasn't locked. He didn't lock his house. Why would he lock his truck?

Ducky had to use both his hands and jump slightly to get himself in the truck, but it wasn't that much of an effort.

The ride to Gibbs favorite diner was quiet, neither man said nothing.

Ten minutes later, Gibbs was pouring ketchup for his fries when he finally spoke to his friend. He spoke with his soft voice, the one he used rarely. "My dad already paid to be buried. He'll be laid to rest next to my mom in Stillwater."

Ducky was caught off guard by Gibbs statement. He had grown accustomed to the silence so he was looking down at his corned beef sandwich when Gibbs spoke. Ducky looked up at Gibbs.

"What are the plans for the funeral?" Ducky asked kindheartedly.

Gibbs swallowed the food in his mouth before speaking, "Hospital said dad has to be claimed by Thursday or they'll have to cremate him. The morgue's small, not much room." Ducky scoffed in disgust. As an ME he saw that as disrespectful. Gibbs had expected that. "I'll schedule the funeral for Friday. That gives us time to solve this case."

Later Gibbs walked into the squad room. Bishop had made herself comfortable leaning against the filing cabinet in between McGee and Tony's desks. Gibbs stopped in front of her and looked down at her, something that he was entirely used too by now.

"Anything?" He asked, with more patience than Bishop had expected.

Bishop shook her head and pulled her ear buds from her ears. "I'm rechecking cellphones that were being used in the area at the time of the murder. So far no luck."

Gibbs acknowledged with a movement of his head and then sat at his desk and turned on his main computer monitor. He opened up his email. McGee had changed his email settings so he only had to sign in his email once a week so Gibbs just clicked and he saw he had 32 new emails. Most were office related, but he saw one email from Metro PD.

**Special Agent Gibbs, **

** I'm emailing you in regards to NCIS's interest in cases that have the victim shot between the eyes, with an exit wound but no bullet. **

** Upon reviewing old cases I found these cases where gang members take the bullets from their crime scenes for an initiation ritual. **

** Sincerely, Sgt. Mickey DeRusso MPD.**

At the bottom of the Email there was a list of five cases from the last year. Gibbs clicked on the first one and put his glasses on.

After reading just the first page, his gut was telling him that the Admiral was a victim of a gang initiation hit. He looked to Bishop and called her name. She looked up at him and he swung his computer monitor around pointed. Bishop stood up and walked over to get a closer look, Gibbs let her read for a minute.

"You think the Admiral was a victim of a gang?" Bishop asked, bringing her gaze back to Gibbs.

"It's the only lead we have, so yeah it's a possibility."

"What are we going to do…?" Bishop asked confused and trying not to anger Gibbs.

Gibbs picked up his desk phone and dialed.

Tony was sprawled across his twin sized bed, with his blanket half on and half off his body.

He woke to his phone ringing and groaned as he realized that he had only been asleep for two hours.

"DiNozzo." He answered with sleep forcing his eyes closed.

"We got a lead. Metro sent us links to cases with gang related hits."

DiNozzo's speech was slurred because he was so tired. "I'll be in in 40."

"No, Tony. Sleep. I'll talk to Vance."

Before Tony could protest, his boss hung up.

On the other end, Gibbs pushed the phone down and got up from his desk. He started walking towards the stairs. Bishop watched him and stood awkwardly wondering if she was supposed to follow. She decided against it seeing no reason why she should follow.

"Come in." Vance said. He was surprised when Gibbs walked in. Gibbs didn't usually knock before entering.

Gibbs placed himself in front of his boss's desk. "Got a lead. Metro PD sent case files where victim's cause of death matched the death of the Admiral. They think the deaths were gang related."

Vance shifted in his seat. "Initiation hits?"

"Uh huh."

Vance leaned forward. "You talk to DiNozzo?"

"He was asleep when I called. He needs the rest, Leon."

"Okay. You can go and talk to Metro but I need your word you won't do anything stupid."

Gibbs smiled. "I'll try." He started to walk away but Vance spoke again.

"What happened to your hand?"

Gibbs looked at his hand. It had stopped hurting and was only bruised. Gibbs guessed he didn't hurt it as bad as he thought especially since Ducky didn't seem too concerned.

Back in the bullpen, Bishop looked through the cases on Gibbs computer. She had zoned into her work so much that she hadn't noticed she was sitting in Gibbs chair until Gibbs was bending down in front of her in order to make eye contact.

"Oh I'm so sorry, Gibbs. I kind of zoned out…" Gibbs put each of his hands on the chair back and pulled it away from the desk. Bishop got the idea and got up.

"Gear up. We're going to follow this lead."

Bishop looked at her boss oddly. "But I thought you were restri…." Bishop trailed off as Gibbs stared at her, daring her to finish that sentence. Bishop said nothing else and went to her desk and collected her gun and shield.

Soon they were both in a Dodge Charger driving to Metro PD headquarters. Gibbs said nothing, but it was obvious to him that Bishop wanted to say something. Even though he knew he'd regret it he asked Bishop what it was.

"You want to say something, Bishop?"

Bishop looked at her boss who kept his eyes on the road. "Uh no. I'm just wondering if the Admiral was really killed by a gangbanger."

Gibbs said nothing, and didn't look at her.

The two were standing in front of a dead body lying on a slab in the cold, smelly morgue of Metro PD.

The ME was Tom Hubbard, a bridge friend of Ducky's and he talked and talked. Unlike Ducky however Dr. Hubbard's stories were boring and not even remotely as interesting. Also unlike Ducky, the doctor was not easily put back on track.

"It reminds me of a case study I read from Scotland Yard. Two twelve year olds…"

The doctors rambling made Gibbs miss Ducky so Gibbs interpreted the man's sentence. "Ducky tell you that?"

Tom Hubbard looked at Gibbs confused. "Yes actually…"

Gibbs looked down at the obese man. "That's weird. He's not much of a talker."

Now Tom Hubbard was completely confused. Whether it was intentional or not Dr. Hubbard turned his attention completely to the body. The two agents looked at the corpse. It was almost an exact match to the Admirals body, injury wise.

The coroner thumbed through the Admirals autopsy file. "This man's method of death was the same as your Admirals."

That was all Gibbs and Bishop needed to know and they left the morgue as politely as they could.

From a detective working the gang division of MPD, Gibbs and Bishop learned that the gang most likely to be responsible for the murders was a new gang called The Group and was made of younger members who came from all ethnicities and backgrounds. They were led by older gang members who were banished and or wanted by their former gangs.

The two left MPD Headquarters and went to the only known location of The Group. Before they even parked, they became aware of a playground. It was a new playground with a nice rubber ground and brand new equipment. Gibbs admired the sand box. It was filled with at least two feet of the good soft sand. Gibbs pulled an evidence bag from his pocket, donned a glove and scooped some sand inside for Abby to analyze.


End file.
